63-Year-Old Rocker's Tour The High-Grossing One This Year

The Boss brings his "Wrecking Ball" tour Thursday night to Hartford, and the audience, including thousands of fans who have attended dozens, if not hundreds, of Bruce Springsteen shows, have helped make it the highest-grossing tour in the world this year.

The 63-year-old Jersey rocker, who enjoys the kind of loyal following similar to the Grateful Dead, Rush and Dave Matthews, has sold more than 2 million tickets for the 10-month tour that ends in early December. (Coldplay is a distant second, with about 1.6 million tickets sold).

It's the first time that Springsteen has been in Hartford since 2009, and the15th Hartford concert by The Boss since his first, in 1973 at the Bushnell.

Tina Balboni of Newington has been a fan since 1984 and has seen him live 25 times. She remembers the first time she heard his music "like it was yesterday."

"I heard 'Dancing in the Dark' while I was driving my little blue Nissan Sentra down Church Street in Newington," Balboni said. "I went out and bought the album and liked every song on it. I was 19."

Decades later when Balboni's own daughter was 9 and anticipating her first concert — it was 2003 and the tickets were for Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake — she was happy for her daughter, but also concerned.

Was it right that Mara should spend her whole life telling people that her first rock concert was Aguilera and Timberlake? Balboni decided no and drove her daughter to Giants Stadium in New Jersey to see Springsteen.

"When the show started that night, [Mara] stood on her seat, put her arms around my neck and said, 'Mommy, I've never seen you so happy!'" Balboni said. "That's a respectable first concert."

Balboni will be at the XL Center show in Hartford on Thursday night, seeing Springsteen for the first time without longtime saxophonist Clarence "Big Man" Clemons, who died last year. She's hoping to hear her favorite song, "She's the One" from the album "Born to Run."

Chuck Steedman, the general manager of the XL Center, said that more than 13,000 tickets had been sold by press time. Tickets could still be available by showtime because the venue will hold "in the high 14,000-range," he said. "We anticipate a sellout."

"I got my first taste in 1979," said Plourde, of Naugatuck. "I was a freshman in high school and somebody let me borrow 'Darkness on the Edge of Town.' I was hooked."

Considering her longtime fan status, she is a bit embarrassed to say that she has seen him live "only" 11 times. Thursday night will be No. 12 for her.

"What's really exciting about his shows is ... he doesn't ever play the same thing. You could go to two shows in a row and, except for a handful of songs, there are always new songs on the set list," she said. "And his energy is unbelievable. He plays for three and a half, four hours, no opening act."

"I saw him in New Jersey last month, and in Boston twice in August. He's 63 years old. He was crowd surfing."

Her favorite song is "Prove It All Night" from the album "Darkness on the Edge of Town."

Nikki Fournier, also of Newington, is a second-generation Springsteen fan who has already attended two concerts on this tour, in New Jersey and Tampa, Fla. Hartford will be her third. "My dad has been a fan since forever. My dad's a Jersey guy," she said, referring to Springsteen's home state.

"When I was in college I didn't have the money or the luxury to go to his shows," she said. "Now that I have the means to buy tickets and travel, I can see him a lot. This tour just resonates with me."

Fournier's favorite song is "Spirit in the Night" from the album "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J." She said her appreciation for Springsteen has changed over time. "I started out liking it because dad liked it," she said. "Now I have experiences to go along with the songs. ... As I grow up, I rediscover albums, and they say a lot about life."

Dennis Corrigan of Wilton agrees. He has been a fan since hearing "The River" in 1980. "He tells stories that folks can relate to on lots of different levels," Corrigan said. "A lot of his characters are facing hard times and finding ways to escape. You see a lot of that even on the same record, the serious Bruce and the party Bruce."

Corrigan — who has seen two "Wrecking Ball" shows in Massachusetts, two at the Meadowlands in New Jersey and one in New York — said that age and experience have added to his appreciation.

"In 1980, I was 13, 14 years old. When you're 14, you know nothing," he said. "By the time I was 47, I had married and had two kids. I had gone through a lot more of life. I know a lot of things now."

As a teen, his favorite songs were "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" and "Born to Run." "As an adult, I can now listen to the 'Tunnel of Love' album and relate to it on a different set of emotions," he said.

But the song he wants to hear most is "Kitty's Back," from the album "The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle." "I've been stalking that song on this tour," he said. "I haven't gotten it yet."

Lauren Meyer of Stamford is still a teenager. She's 17 but has already seen Springsteen 15 to 20 times. "He is one of the best storytellers, and I'm into singers who tell a story when they sing." Her friends at school don't get it.

"I'm obsessed. I'm the type of person who cries when he comes out," said Meyer, whose favorite song is "The River." She has seen six "Wrecking Ball" shows, in New York, New Jersey, Foxborough and Philadelphia. Hartford will be her seventh show.

"It doesn't matter how old you are or how old he is. His ability to connect to this generation will never end," she said.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND will be at the XL Center, 225 Trumbull St. in Hartford, at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Tickets are $98 and $65. Details: http://www.brucespringsteen.net.